People who want to write a memoir often find themselves reluctant to begin or continue writing because of the nature of the story they want to tell. Maybe the story is dark, and you want to write without being pulled back into painful memories. Maybe your story will upset someone in your family if it’s published. Maybe you haven’t begun to write this story, because you don’t know where to start.

At Writers Helping Writers in November, you’ll discover how other writers have handled such stories and look at ways you can navigate the writing process so you feel less pressure and more safety as you tell your story—hard as it might be—in your own way.

Join Darlene Frank on Thursday, November 14, 6:30 p.m.–8:00 p.m. at San Mateo Public Library and on Thursday, November 21, 6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m. at Rinconada Library in Palo Alto.

After submitting your manuscript, the next stage of your author’s journey begins. At our November meeting, Carole Bumpus will explore the essential steps every author needs to take to ensure their book reaches its full potential. From establishing an online presence and crafting compelling meta data to understanding your target audience and hiring a publicist, you’ll learn how to become your book’s greatest advocate. Please join us Sunday, November 17, 10 a.m.—noon at the Sequoia Yacht Club in Redwood City.

Kate Adams, Fault Zone poetry editor, will host two Writers Helping Writers events in October. On Thursday, October 10, from 6:30 p.m.–8:00 p.m., at San Mateo Public Library, she will invite writers to look at poetic lines and build a quatrain and blank verse. She will also offer advice for submitting to the Fault Zone anthology (deadline October 31).

On Thursday, October 17, from 6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m., at Rinconada Library in Palo Alto, Kate and fellow writers will help each other explore that special space where half the page can be left empty in the service of enhancing the meaning of the other half.

Join writer and aspiring author Megan E. McDonald at our Saturday, October 19, meeting as she demystifies the process of compiling a comprehensive target list. First, she will demonstrate the essential tools one can use to research prospective agents. Second, she will run through her own system based on her writing style and current projects, then open the floor to one or two attendees and help them start to compile lists live. You will leave with a better understanding of how to frame your search for relevant agents.

Literally Stories, a site that has published twenty of James Hanna’s tales, interviews him in a Sunday feature entitled “Sunday Whoever.” The questions are fun questions and are not to be taken too seriously.

“Notes from a Reunion,” a story by David Harris about a high school classmate murdered while hitchhiking, was accepted for publication by On the Seawall. “It’s the third story I’ve submitted to them,” David says, “and the editor had sent thoughtful and encouraging rejections with the two other stories. The third time was the charm for this one.” His writing critique group provided “very helpful feedback.” 

Claudia Hyslop has been invited to read her poem, “The Lake,” at CWC-Redwood Writers’ launch party for their 2024 poetry anthology, One Day, on Sunday September 22. The potluck launch party is being held at a member’s private home.

Dr. Jeanne Powell’s writing submission was one of sixteen chosen for a ten-day writing retreat in Tuscany with Anaphora Arts. Writers took classes with three instructors, then relaxed in an air-conditioned villa near Lucca with day trips to Lucca, Pisa, and Florence. Dr. Jeanne is planning a weekly online journal to start September 2024.

Geri Spieler’s latest book of historical fiction, Regina of Warsaw, based on her grandmother’s flight from Poland’s pogroms, received a glowing review from Midwest Book Review.

On The Andrew Jose Show in a recorded interview entitled “Regina Anuszewicz’s Heroic Flight from Antisemitism in Eastern Europe with Geri Spieler,” Geri discusses chronicling her grandmother’s life and experiences as a Jewish refugee in the US from Eastern Europe.

Carole Bumpus’s latest work, Adventures on Land and Sea: Searching for Culinary Pleasures in Provence and Along the Côte d’Azur, has gone to the printer. The book will launch November 12. Carole “can’t wait to share some of the stories hidden in those pages.”

Whether taking the traditional publishing route or striking out on your own by self-publishing, working with a professional editor is essential.

At the CWC meeting on Saturday, September 21, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., editors Eva Barrows and Lila LaBine will introduce you to the different types of editing professionals who can help you through various stages of the writing process. Learn about interviewing potential editors, what deliverables to expect, and how to support your editor partner. Gain confidence in what step to take next in your publishing journey.

On Thursday, September 12, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the San Mateo Public Library, join Kate Adams, Fault Zone poetry editor, and fellow writers as we generate lines and see where they go.

For California Writers Club members who want to submit their work to the next issue of Fault Zone, this is a good opportunity to be inspired!

Your story (or poem or article) is special, but how can you make the manuscript catch an editor’s or agent’s attention? 

At Writers Helping Writers in Palo Alto, Vanessa MacLaren-Wray will give writers the necessary tools to make their manuscripts shine. Her workshop will cover submission requirements, demystification of the cover letter, and the wait for acceptance. Please join us on Thursday, September 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Rinconada Library in Palo Alto.

Bruce Neuberger’s Postcards to Hitler: A German Jew’s Defiance in a Time of Terror is a contestant at the National Jewish Book Awards. In the final stages of preparation, the audiobook will be out soon. A Hindi language version of Postcards will be published by Gargi Books of Delhi, India. Pkys AFT Local 2121 Retirees is hosting a reading of Postcards to Hitler on September 6 at 1 p.m. at the S.F. Main Library, Paley Room. 

Tice Swackhamer announces the publication of her flash fiction piece, “The Pantry,” in the recently released California Writers Club’s Visions and Verse anthology, an ekphrastic book of poetry, prose, art, and photography. Her photo, “The Golden Hour,” is among the fifteen art contest winners. Her short story, “Bread,” will appear in the forthcoming Redwood Writers 2024 anthology, Transitions.